ἴσος + φύω
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Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
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Quotation
Τῶν δ’ ὄπισθεν διάζωμα μὲν ἡ ὀσφύς (ὅθεν καὶ τοὔνομ’ ἔχει· δοκεῖ γὰρ εἶναι ἰσοφυές), τοῦ δὲ διεξοδικοῦ τὸ μὲν οἷον ἐφέδρανον γλουτός, τὸ δ’ ἐν ᾧ στρέφεται ὁ μηρός, κοτυληδών
Translation (En)
As a brace for the rear parts is the "pelvis" (osphus)—indeed this circumstance provides its name osphus: as we can see, it is "symmetrical" (isophues). The part of the fundament which forms as it were a seat is the rump, and the part on which the thigh pivots is the hip-socket (transl. A.L. Peck, LCL)
Parallels
Orion, Etymologicum, omicron, p. 116 (Ὀσφύς. ὡς Ἀριστοτέλης, ἡ ἴση πρὸς τὸ ἄνω καὶ κάτω πεφυκυῖα, οἷον ἴσοφυς. ὡς δὲ Ἀπολλόδωρος, ὀστοφυὴς, ὅτι ὀστώδης); Meletius, De natura hominis, p. 110 (ἡ δὲ ὀσφὺς, οἷον ἰσοφὺς, ἡ ἴση πρὸς τὰ ἄνω καὶ τὰ κάτω πεφυκότα τοῖς ὀστοῖς); Leo Medicus, De natura hominum synopsis 72 (ἡ γὰρ ὀσφὺς οἷον ἰσοφὺς ἡ ἴση πρὸς τὰ ἄνω καὶ τὰ κάτω πεφυκυῖα τοῖς ὀστοῖς); Etym. Gudianum, omicron, p. 438 (Ὀσφὺς λέγεται τὸ τρίτον μέρος τῆς ῥάχεως· ἡ γὰρ ῥάχις τρεῖς ἐπωνυμίας ἔχει· ἡ πρώτη καλεῖται αὐχὴν, ἡ δὲ δεύτερα ἰξὶν, ἡ δὲ τρίτη ὀσφύς· οἱονεὶ ὀστοφυὴς, ὀστωδὴς γὰρ τόπος ἐστί· γίνεται παρὰ τὸ ἶσος καὶ τὸ φύω, ἰσοφύς τις οὖσα· ἢ ὀστοφυὴς ὅτι ὀστώδης, κατὰ συναίρεσιν); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 636 (Ὀσφύς: Ῥάχις, καὶ ψύα· ὡς μὲν Ἀριστοτέλης, ἡ ἴση πρὸς τὰ ἄνω ἐμπεφυυῖα, ἰσόσφύς τις οὖσα· ὡς δὲ Ἀπολλόδωρος, οἱονεὶ ὀστοφυής τις οὖσα· ὀστώδης γάρ); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, omicron, p. 1474 (idem)
Comment
The word is parsed as a compound of φύω, which provides the second syllable. Accounting for the first syllable was more difficult and Aristotle must imply two formal change, from ἴσο- to ὀσ-: first loss of the composition vowel [o], and then change of the initial vowel [i] into [o]. The semantic justification is that this body part is symmetrical, lit. "grown equally", but of course this is not specific to the loin and could be applied to other body parts as well